1. The witches of Easter-wick in Finland.
Finnish Easter traditions mix religious references with custom related to the long awaited arrival of spring.
If you answer the door on Sunday before Easter, you may be confronted by endearing little witches offering to bless your home in return for treats.
Young children, especially girls dress up as Easter witches donning colorful old clothes, and painting freckle on their faces. The little witches then go from door to door , bringing willow twigs decorated with colorful feathers and crepe paper as blessings to drive away evil spirits in return for treats.
2. The Easter Bilby of Australia
Finnish Easter traditions mix religious references with custom related to the long awaited arrival of spring.
If you answer the door on Sunday before Easter, you may be confronted by endearing little witches offering to bless your home in return for treats.
Young children, especially girls dress up as Easter witches donning colorful old clothes, and painting freckle on their faces. The little witches then go from door to door , bringing willow twigs decorated with colorful feathers and crepe paper as blessings to drive away evil spirits in return for treats.
2. The Easter Bilby of Australia
If you live outside Australia chances are you've never heard a child plead with a parent to give him or her an Easter Bilby. The tradition stems from a nation putting its own cultural stamp on an old tradition. You see, the bunny is not a native to Australia-- in fact it's something of a nuisance to say the least. Introduced by European settlers, the rabbit went feral and reproduced in numbers that even Moses would have to grudgingly as positively Biblical. The population explosion put a lot of fauna in jeopardy. So rabbits aren't the most popular animal down under. The Australians feel that a bilby--a true Australian native, approximately 15 million years is more appropriate to the Easter image.